


The Perpetual Self

by TheNovelust



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-26
Updated: 2013-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-19 15:10:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/574659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNovelust/pseuds/TheNovelust
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the death of Steve Rogers in the tragedy of Civil War, Tony Stark makes a deal with Odin, the All-Father, in order to get his dearest friend back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Save him!" The shout echoes although there are no walls around on which the sound waves may resonate. Pain and anguish itself is enough. Nothing. No change in the world, not even a slight one, alerts him to the presence of the god he so desperately seeks. "Save him." Merely a tiny sigh riding the wings of desperation. Anthony Edward Stark's head hangs low as he fights back tears he refuses to let fall. "Please." He begs to someone always watching, unseen. "I'll do anything."

The ambient temperature begins to change suddenly from the warmth of the New York summer to the coolness of the last cringes of fall on the brink of winter. Tony raises his head, perplexed but not unaccustomed or surprised by what is happening. The All-Father has been summoned.

"Odin." The squeak of his helpless voice differs largely from his usual soft spoken confidence. Eyes glazed with tears, Tony turns to the All-Father. A small grin hides underneath the bushel of Odin's beard. Tony would have described it as cocky and smug, had he cared enough to really take notice. Heart tightening in his chest and breath catching in his throat, Tony forces his request out once more. "Save him." A single tear escapes the confines of his eye lids and crawls down his cheek. Too heartbroken to care, the tear settles into his beard like a dewdrop.

"And you will give anything?" Eyebrow raised, a curious half-smile now dances on the edge of Odin's lips.

No thought needed. "Yes." The word leaves Tony's lips before it has been completely formed. Desperation had driven Tony this far, and he was not going to let selfishness or lack of commitment get in his way now.

"I want you." Odin's voice booms like the thunder that comes after the lightning which his son commands. "I want you to come live with me in Asgard… As a servant of sorts."

"Forever?" The squeak escapes him again. Tony glances over to Steve's cold, lifeless body, and he knows in that moment that he would indeed give up forever for there to simply be life and a soul in that body again.

"Three years is all I ask, in which you will not age a day."

Three years alongside Odin, as a servant to Asgard and then he would have a lifetime with Steve once again. It almost does not seem like a fair trade for Odin, but he knows the All-Father could easily have deeper plans. He does not care however. He needs Steve just as much as he needs the oxygen filling his lungs. "I agree." His voice is strong and confident again as he is poised in his decision.

"Very well." Odin strolls over to the body, long strides that make him appear to glide upon the earth rather than walk it. Kneeling, he places a hand over the blood stained star on Steve's chest. A bright light begins to glow from Odin's fingertips, dribbling out like drool from the lips of a sleeping toddler in thick, heavy droplets and turning to lively, jumping sparks when they touch Steve's lifeless form. Amazement and horror intermingle within Tony's chest as he watches the color slowly return to Steve's cheeks: first a pale salmon, then a rosy pink, and finally a bright red, as if he's flustered by one of Tony's dirty jokes. Breath catching in his throat at the sight of Steve flushing with life, Tony drops to his knees besides him. Tears well up in his eyes once more as he look to Odin.

"It's… It's done?" He manages to gasp, heart beating in his chest so furiously it leaves no room for his lungs to expand.

Odin nods solemnly, slowly. "Aye. It is done." Straightening, he looms over Tony yet cast no shadow. "It will be some time 'til he wakes and your sentence has started, Anthony Stark." Grimly, almost like death taking a child, Odin places a hand upon Tony's shoulder. "We must go."

Before Tony can speak, Odin transports them to Asgard. For a few brief seconds, Tony feels as if he has the worst hangover of his life, but the feeling subsides quickly once he senses the ground of Asgard beneath his hands and knees. Tony's heart sinks to the soles of his feet. He continues to stare before him, at the place where Steve had lain only moments before. "I didn't even get to say good bye." Eyes wide, tears dripping from them freely now, Tony looks up at Odin. "You didn't even let me say good bye. "You will see him again Anthony, fear not. There is no reason for good bye." But Odin seems ashamed that he did not allow Tony the chance to speak with Steve before whisking him away for the next three years. "Come. Let me show you to your chambers."

* * *

Steve attempts to sit up, but his limbs are stiff, reminding him of how he felt when he was thawed from the ice. Breathing slowly and evenly, the calm can remain. Eyelids flutter close as the memories wash over him like waves gently lapping at a shoreline.

He had died. He remembered it so clearly the pain still stung him. Yet he lived. Breath fills his lungs, his heart pumps blood throughout his body, the synapses in his brain connect. As sure as he is Captain America, he is alive. The certainty of his death probes his brain. Unable to comprehend, for death is truly the end, Steve stops dishing for an explanation and decides to accept the fact that he is alive once again. Looking around him, instincts telling him to check his surroundings, Steve sees nothing but short shrubs and brown parched grass. He can't recall any places he knows that look like this one.

A jingling off to his right causes him to turn, eyes widening. A cell phone emits the sound, screen lit with the name "PEPPER POTTS" and a picture to match displayed. Steve picks up the phone, sliding the arrow across the screen to answer.

"Uh… Hello?" His voice sounds strange, unused for so long, it creaks like an old door on rusty, reluctant hinges. Silence for a few moments, which makes Steve unsure if his voice is working at all. "Hello?"

"To-Steve?" The coice on the other line is heavily pregnant with confusion. Steve doesn't know what to say. "Nevermind. Where are you Tony?"

"This is Steve." He manages to croak out, still unaccustomed to speaking. "I don't know where Tony is."

"This is a bad joke, especially for you Tony. Or are you drunk?" He can practically hear Pepper toll her eyes over the phone and it amuses him, despite the situation. It's so typically Pepper.

"This is really Steve. I don't know where I am and Tony's not around." He searches his mind desperately for a way to prove himself, but comes up dry. "What happened Pepper?"

Quiet for a few moments, then Pepper replies. "I've had J.A.R.V.I.S. track the phone. You're some way out of New York. I'm going to have someone pick you up. If this isn't Tony, I suggest you run. This is a sick joke and the driver will not be happy when he meets the prankster." She hangs up before Steve has the chance to say anything in his defense. Steve takes the phone from his ear and stares at it. At least he isn't stuck out here, wherever "here" is. He looks up at the sky, unsure of what is going on, but rather sure he's not going to like it.

* * *

In his new bedroom, his bedroom for the next three years, Tony lets out a deep sigh filled with exasperation and longing. Regret doesn't touch his heart: he knows this is more than worth it. Alone, he feels the weight of Steve being so close yet so far away on his heart.

A knock sounds, startling Tony from his thoughts. He hasn't heard a knock in years, not with J.A.R.V.I.S. around. "Come in." He rises, standing stock-still in front of the bed, looking very much like a deer caught in headlights. The door creeps open slowly to reveal Fandral, a grim expression upon his face.

"Odin wanted me to make sure you've been properly taken care of." He won't look at Tony, and Tony finds that strange. Despite being a warrior, he's fidgeting slightly, which Tony also finds odd.

"I'm fine. Thanks." Tony says, looking around the room to see if there is anything missing that he might need. He can't think of anything so he sits back down on the edge of the bed.

Fandral continues to look around awkwardly. Finally, he mutters "I'm sorry", closing the door before Tony can say anything, leaving him alone with his suspicions.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Odin tells Tony the real reason for bringing him to Asgard.

Earlier:  


Dragged before Odin once for his most recent bout of mischievous crimes, the gaurds thrust Loki forward and the god glares at them while smoothing out imaginary wrinkles from his clothing. He turns to Odin, the hint of a malicious smile playing at the edge of his lips.

"Hello,  _father_." He practically spits out that last word, poised with all the hatred he holds for the All-Father.

The image of unshattered calm as he stares down at Loki from the throne of Asgard, Odin's unreadable expression causes the younger god to fall silent. No reaction ruins all the fun. Odin knows this. As the All-Father, he knows everything. His words echo through the throne room, soft yet powerful.

"Hello my son. I have caught word of your tricks once again. Tell me, what does your heart crave? Will nothing cease this madness?"  


Loki frowns, the fire rising in his eyes. "Nothing. My goal is to wreak havoc and reign misery upon you and my ' _brother'_." Again, the hatred burns in his voice. "Nothing shall sway me."  


Odin nods, the statement neither unusual nor uncommon. "Wish ye to have someone to rule over? Someone who shall bend to your will?"  


Loki's brows furrow for a second, a brief flash of unusual confusion across his face. "What?"  


Certain he has caught his son's interest, Odin slyly reveals his hand. "Name your price. Any person. Tell me, and they shall be yours."  


His failed conquests of Midgard instantly come to mind, and those that kept him from his goals. The archer? No, he had already had his fun with that one. The woman was intriguing, but every bit of the manipulative trickster as himself and he doubts a week would pass before she loses her charm and he would dispose of her. The captain, he recently learned to much dismay, is newly deceased. That would have been his choice, certainly.

Then he remembers.  


He remembers the Iron Man. There was something in that man that caught his eye and so now he knows for certain.  


"I want the iron man, the one known as Tony Stark."

* * *

  
Presently:

The bitter chill surrounding Asgard has begun to rock Tony into a strange kind of sleep, an odd lethargy pulling at his normally sharp, facetious mind as he curls among the furs of the bed. Time began to blur long ago by the time Odin enters Tony's room.

There is no knock, no indication of any sort that the door was even opened and the only thing that alerts Tony to the All-Father's presence once again is the change in temperature. A strange warmth washes over him, causing him to shuffle a bit and then turn on his side towards the god, suddenly uncomfortable in the heat.

"What do you want?" The murmur leaves him sleepily and he sounds like a child again for the second time in twice as many hours.  


 

"Just you, Anthony." Again, Odin speaks cryptically and Tony is too tired, too overwhelmed, and just too damned selfish to even try and figure out what the god insinuates. Normally, he would know by now the trick Odin wishes to play, or at least have some sort of clue, but the strangeness of everything, of being ripped from his home and loved ones has left him disoriented.

"Then take me," is his answer as he rolls back over onto his side, burrowing further into the furs, and facing away from Odin.  


Odin licks his lips, swallowing hard before speaking again, the god's mouth set into a deep frown. "It shall not be I who takes you." Tony narrows his eyes, unsure he hears that correctly. He resists the urge to turn back towards the All-Father, but only just. Silence, he decides for once, allies itself to him here and he forces his tongue to be still, waiting instead, although rather impatiently, for Odin to continue. A long moment passes, pregnant with anticipation and awkwardness, before Odin speaks once again. "You are for my son."

This definitely catches Tony's attention and he turns now, propping himself up with his elbows in order to glare at the god as he delivers his next comment. "I am for no one but myself. I don't belong to  _anyone._ " The whole thing doesn't seem like a good idea now, and Tony wonders if the sacrifice he made matches the thing he gains. But of course it does, and he almost wants to slap himself for being so silly. He'd fight  _both_  gods on his own if it meant having Steve alive, safe and sound on Earth.

Odin heaves a sigh as old as the universe itself, shaking his head ever so slightly from side to side, eye a half-shut slit. "You seem to have forgotten our deal, Anthony. You are to remain here in Asgard doing whatever I require of you, and I need this," the old god-king sighs again, licking his lips.

He seems to Tony to suddenly be very old, and this pulls at Tony's heart as Tony's brows furrow and then unfurrow themselves, letting down his defenses, but only slightly. "What does this mean I have to do?"  _It's only three years,_ he reminds himself, hoping the thought will bring him some comfort.

"I am not sure for which reason he wants you, other than to rule you. You must speak to him if you wish to know specifics."

Tony frowns again, the corners of his lips doing a strange sort of twitching movement. He claps his hands together, then wrings them around one another before saying words he never thought he would speak, especially not since the mischievous god was brought back to this realm.

"Bring Loki in."


End file.
